Sunday, December 23, 2018

Opinions, Opinions, Opinions

Nothing special to write about, but at this time of the year, it is easy to fall into a rut.
Football and boxing take up the majority of the time here and other than a passings post or cleaning of the inbox, it's hard to find time to write anything else.

That will change in a few weeks when the Browns season ends and the Buckeyes finish the Urban Meyer era in Pasadena, then suddenly in a season without a winter team to follow every day, TRS will have lots of different things to write about and hopefully, you'll find them interesting.
If anyone out there actually reads this, feel free to send me questions.
I really enjoyed the Q and A, I did a while back, so feel free to ask sports, non-sports or even questions about me.
I'm surprised sometimes after all these years of writing, how much people know about me and how much they don't know, so ask if interested- I can always decide not to answer!
I also might have another list post in the future this winter as well.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say the Dodgers trade with the Reds was a salary dump.
I do know better though and I'd say they are scraping paint to find money for a chance to sign Bryce Harper along with rumors that have the NL Yankees seriously targeting Corey Kluber.
If I'm the Indians, I don't see what the rush to trade Kluber or Trevor Bauer as rumored.
The team is still the favorite to win the AL Central and Kluber is very affordable and under team control for three more seasons (2019 and two team options), so if I'm moving Kluber, I want at least three prospects and perhaps a 4th, if I toss another player into the deal.

As for the Giants, signing veteran vagabond reliever Pat Venditte isn't exactly a big bang, but this team needs to take a step back and look for bargains more than high ticket items that will turn the franchise around.
It'll be interesting to see just how the Giants under new management attempt to move in the off-season.
Are they in full rebuild yet? Or do they attempt to move a few players in order to try to compete on a certain level?

I've always enjoyed watching college bowl games and I still watch as many as I can, but the trend of top players not playing in them is a troubling one.
I understand the financial ramifications with an injury and I would likely recommend that my son skip too if I was in that spot, but it's not good for the game and I'm not sure how it can be fixed.

I watched a lot of boxing yesterday and I'm not finished watching everything yet, but as I watched the ESPN+ card, I also was watching the Armed Forces Bowl to watch Houston play Army.
I picked Army to win since Ed Oliver was sitting out (see above) and record-setting quarterback D'Eric King was injured as well, I thought the triple option of Army would carry the day in a close game that could be entertaining for the different style of offenses.
What I didn't expect was a 70-14 beating.
Offensive coordinator Kendall Briles left before the game for the same job at Florida State (leaving days after signing the largest contract for an assistant coach in the country to stay at Houston) and with the various issues late in the season in Coog Land with head coach Major Applewhite's screaming match with Ed Oliver in front of a national audience, a defense that plays like a Big 12 defense, the departure of Briles and a bowl loss that set several records for a defeat and to Army for goodness sakes- Could Houston decide to let Applewhite go now or at minimum, he'll go into next season on the hottest of coaching hot seats?
It's an interesting time for a program that seemed to be on the verge of a potential move up in status to one that seems to have driven off the road.

Finally, I find I'm really looking forward to the AAF, which is the new spring league that will start the week after the Super Bowl.
I've always been a fan of the new leagues and I'm trying to decide which team will be my favorite team and will have their games followed here.
Without an Ohio team, which would have been a slam dunk choice since the league assigns players to teams territorially, I have a few contenders to decide from.

The Arizona Hotshots have bright green and gold uniforms, I always liked their coach in Rick Neuheisel from his USFL playing days and for some reason, Texas Tech was assigned to the Hotshots as a territorial school and they are the early favorite.
The San Antonio Commanders have the Houston Cougars as a territorial school and have interesting helmets with a logo on one side and the player's number on the other.
The Salt Lake Stallions have cool blue and silver uniforms as the ice to the Hotshots heat.
The more I see them, the more I can see them as a contender.
The Memphis Express has the best name (I keep hearing Jim Cornette introduce the Midnight Express), coach Mike Singletary and I did root for the Memphis USFL entry.
I think it'll be one of those four.

Coming soon- Browns vs Bengals and the weekend in boxing including a shocker in Brooklyn!





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